ORANGE CITY, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wynja Feedlot in Orange City have reached a settlement of $20,000 for the feedlot’s unpermitted wastewater discharges. The EPA can charge up to $68,445 per day of Clean Water Act violations, but the agency lowered the charge on the basis that the feedlot had “a limited ability to pay a civil penalty.”

In addition to the fee, Wynja Feedlot Inc., a 999-head capacity cattle feedlot, is required to apply for an National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit, construct a lined containment basin and sample discharges from the surrounding tile for possible pollutants.

The EPA discovered in March 2021 that the confined animal feeding operation had been discharging wastewater through a drainage pipe that led to a “relatively permanent” tributary of the West Branch of the Floyd River. According to EPA, the wastewater contained high levels of bacteria, ammonia, chlorides, and unprocessed organic matter, all of which can contribute to impaired water quality. The feedlot did not have an NPDES permit for the drainage pipe, and according to EPA, the facility admitted the observed discharge had occurred for three consecutive days.